Higher One grant helping NJC students become financially literate

Changes on tap for Plainsman Grill including new menu, outdoor patio

STERLING -- Being able to handle money is an important skill in the real world, which is why Northeastern Junior College is promoting financial literacy on campus this semester.

At an NJC Advisory Council meeting last week, Andy Long, dean of enrollment management, spoke about a $2,200 Higher One grant the college recently received to promote financial literacy.

"Higher One is the company that manages our debit cards we use for refunds," he said. "Any student that gets a financial aid refund, that money automatically goes on this Higher One Debit Card."

During orientation this fall, all NJC students living on campus took a Jump$tart personal financial literacy test and they will take it again at the end of the semester to see what kind of impact was made. Jump$tart is a national financial literacy organization for teens and college students.

There will be a variety of financial literacy activities throughout the semester.

Students will spend time going through personal financial modules online at educationcents.org, a website created by CollegeInvest, a not-for-profit division of Colorado Department of Higher Education. The website offers different courses on money management, spending, investing and saving, credit, taxes, identity theft and so on.

Later this month, students will play Awesome Island, a personal finance game.

In November, NJC will have a Money Smart Week, with different speakers visiting campus to talk to the students about personal finance.

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For every activity the students participate in they will get a ticket, and at the end of the semester the tickets will be put into a drawing for prizes like an iPad, which will be purchased with money from the grant.

Long also said NJC is in the process of creating a new club, Personal Finance Ambassadors, which consists of five students that will head up the activities. Last month, the students had training and visited the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, in Denver.

In other business, NJC President Jay Lee discussed changes that will be happening at Plainsman Grill and Northeastern 18. The changes come as result of his visit with the state board in June to discuss the college's budget -- something all colleges must do -- and the questions raised about the facility.

"The state board knows the challenges we're living with, with our golf course, in terms of being fiscally sound and cost efficient out there," Lee said. "We did share with them that we're still struggling with that part of our auxiliary enterprises and we're still losing money, on both the golf course operation and the restaurant."

The board gave some recommendations and made it very clear they want NJC to come back next year with a more positive report.

"They know and recognize that the loss of funds through that auxiliary enterprise does have an impact on our students and they want us to do something about that," Lee said.

He has already given some direction to Tyler Kelsch, the vice president of administrative services, and Kelsch has made his own recommendations.

First, they're going to take a serious look at the menu, what kind of food they offer and limit that.

"So that we can have better predictions on what is needed for the restaurant part of the operation," Lee said.

They're also going to establish an identity for the restaurant.

"It will be much more of a grill pub-like kind of environment," Lee said. "More suited for the golfer population and those kinds of things. So, you'll see more sandwiches, hamburgers, maybe some pizza kind of things, small salads or things like that."

Additionally, they plan to establish some steady hours of operation, which they haven't before.

Plainsman Grill will be open seven days a week with specific hours and specials on each of those days.

Lastly, they're going to focus on the banquet operations.

"That has been successful for us, continues to be successful for us," Lee said. "That's a known quantity that allows us to accurately predict what our income will be and what our revenue will be. So we're going to focus on that, try to expand that operation."

Last week, the college received a donation to enhance the facility.

The swimming pool that hasn't been used for several years will be filled in to make a patio, with tent-like structures.

"To create more opportunities for banquets, weddings, receptions and those kinds of things," Lee said.

He was asked about the Labor Day Golf Tournament sponsored by the Logan County Chamber of Commerce. Lee said there were more golfers, 71 total, due in large part to the first ever women's flight. However, there weren't as many as they hoped for.

"Still, we saw some growth there," Lee said. "I do think that some of the things that we did as part of the tournament made the event more attractive."

He noted they've been hearing lots of positive comments from people saying they plan to come back next year and bring more friends.

"We're feeling a little bit more optimistic, but we still have a ways to go."

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